On the brand new 80/20, The Dopamines break into a whoa-oh! about six seconds in, then their trademark shouted vocal tradeoffs. The first three songs on 80/20, their first album in 7 years, set the tone immediately.
Back when they were a little more active, the group was often compared to Illinois pop-punk group The Copyrights. I bring that up in reflection because both bands are still going today, albeit at slower speeds, but I think they’ve distanced themselves. The Dopamines are angrier and louder while, yes, using those pop structures as a foundation. The shouted vocals are raw and relentless and -- to be as blunt as their own lyrics – the vocal style would get old if it was all the band did.
Fortunately, while The Dopamines have a very distinct sound, they also aren’t afraid to mix it up. “State of Being” is a bass-slappy tune with a unique rhythm for a punk band. The it sounds like a synth in the quick and fun “Jon Goes To Camp”. The vocal tradeoffs match rhythmic shifts to kick off “Groundhog Day Parade,” which showcases the band’s ability to shift gears, and it later mixes in metallic guitars and slowed-down, pile-on gang vocals. Elsewhere, “Tamper Resistant” highlights their melodic side, and they get a tad epic in the tension-building “The Other Room.” In other words, this record mixes up the sound quite a bit over 13 songs, all while distinctly sounding like The Dopamines. Frankly there’s a bit of everything in “Treatment Center Blues,” which would be the big finale if The Dopamines were an off-Broadway musical.
The different moods give something of a rollercoaster action on 80/20. It’s nonstop and high adrenaline but you do go back and forth and up and down during the quick ride. As I said earlier, it starts out strong -- really strong. If it has a fault, it might be the sequencing because I think it hits so hard at the start that 80/so fades a little down the stretch. Songs like “For Heaven’s Sake Pt. 2” (which puts the self-importance of the punk scene in its place) and “The Doctor” are some of the lyrical highlights that really set a tone that is neatly summarized on bandcamp as “delv[ing] deep into themes of alienation, addiction, and the search for meaning through the lens of a chaotic punk band.”
The band now has four full-lengths. I’d say they are all pretty consistent, but with the new record I pick up a little more of Josh Goldman’s stamp (also in The Raging Nathans). This is a quick and high energy ride of opinionated melodic punk rawk that holds nothing back. For a band that releases records several years apart, they sound vibrant, energized, and on top of their game.
